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Pacquiao vs. Matthysse: Scorecard Results, Complete Punch Stats and Breakdown
July 15, 2018
Manny Pacquiao enjoyed the 60th win of his career on Sunday as he beat Lucas Matthysse with a technical knockout in the seventh round of their fight at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The victory earned him the WBA (regular) welterweight title and was his first via knockout in nine years, stretching back 14 fights to his meeting with Miguel Cotto in 2009.
Pac-Man dominated from start to finish with his trademark hand speed on show, and Matthysse could not deal with his aggression and his quick, powerful combinations.
Here are some highlights from the fight, in which Pacquiao knocked his opponent down in the third and fifth rounds before ending it in the seventh:
CBS Sports' Brian Campbell had the score as 60-52 in Pacquiao's favour prior to Round 7, with the Filipino having taken each of the first six rounds.
CompuBox provided the two fighters' punching stats:
Remarkably, Pacquiao managed to throw 344 punches in less than seven full rounds. He landed 95, of which 79 were power punches.
ESPN Stats & Info shared further insight, and revealed the 39-year-old had particular success when aiming for the Argentinian's head:
In the first round, much of Pacquiao's best work was done in striking Matthysse's body as he started with intent, and it was clear from the outset that the 35-year-old was struggling to deal with his opponent's explosive movement.
Per Ring Magazine's Ryan Songalia, Pacquiao's body blows allowed him to open things up:
Early in Round 3, Pacquiao scored his first knockdown with an impressive uppercut, and he landed several eye-catching combinations before the bell rang again.
Matthysse showed a little more resistance in the fourth as he landed some body shots of his own as well as a strong right hand, but he was forced to take a knee by a Pacquiao right hook to the temple in the fifth.
Despite taking a low blow early in the sixth, the fight remained one-way traffic in Pacquiao's favour as Matthysse appeared slow and vulnerable, and he finally brought it to an end in the following round with another uppercut that split the Argentinian's defences.
The win could breathe some new life into Pac-Man's career, which looked to be coming to an end after he lost to Jeff Horn more than a year ago in his last fight.
He looked much sharper here than he did in that outing, albeit Matthysse rarely troubled him.
Per Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, Pacquiao plans to fight for a second time before 2018 is up. If he's as quick and focused as he was here he'll have a good chance of achieving his 61st win, but it's unlikely he'll have as easy a time of it as he did on Sunday.